Stashing of locally persisted data to network accessible storage

ABSTRACT

Techniques are disclosed for identifying and stashing all or portions of application data to a network accessible storage device or location. Identifying and stashing are accomplished in a fashion that is transparent to a user such that a user is not burdened by the process of managing and stashing a full or partial set of application data. The system, the application, or a combination of system components and the application persist and manage data locally and stash portions of the local data to one or more network accessible storage devices or locations. One or more links are provided in place of the stashed portions of data. The application uses the links in a same or similar fashion as handling local data while providing little to no loss of functionality due to all or portions of the local data being stashed.

BACKGROUND

Despite advances in computing and programming, for a particular softwareapplication, managing and storing data generally fall into two somewhatmutually exclusive paradigms. In one paradigm, data is managed at somelevel of granularity within a single file. For example, information isplaced within cells of a spreadsheet and the spreadsheet is stored as asingle file on a local machine. In another example, words and paragraphsare managed and stored within a single word processing document on alocal machine or at least on a single machine even if stored at somelocation in a network.

In a second general paradigm, data is managed and stored across anetwork. For example, a file system allows a user or program to manageand store files, either singly or in groups, in one or more locations ordevices in the network. In another example, a program gathers and storesdata in a real time database which may be stored on a single machine ormay be spread over multiple systems or machines interconnected by anetwork. In the second paradigm, often one application communicates withanother application (e.g. database application) where the otherapplication then manages and persists the data.

In both data management and data storing paradigms, backing up of datacan be done by another unrelated application or function by anapplication with the sole and specific task of backing up data. Forexample, in the first paradigm, files are copied to another locationeither to a location on the same physical machine or to another machineor device. In the second paradigm, a system administrator performs abackup. In such a situation, such as in the backup of a database, theprimary system or application can be shutdown or brought offline whenthe task of backing up is performed. In other situations, the primarysystem or application experiences an unusually high load as a backupfunction is performed, which sometimes causes interference with normaloperation of the system or the application, or both the system and theapplication. In both paradigms, large portions of the data being backedup have not been changed since a previous backup which results in a riskthat data and files may be stored multiple times across multiple backupsand transferred multiple times.

Further, user data accumulates over time. For example, users tend tokeep email messages and add to their collection of digital photographs.They hang onto their music files, video files, bookmarks and othervarious forms of data. Software applications tend to increasingly becomesluggish as they become overwhelmed by these increasing collections ofdata. In the workplace, users hit or exceed their respective quotas ofdisk space or file size limits for certain applications. Archiving,auto-archiving, compression and automated garbage collection only go sofar in managing such data. Application and machine performance sometimesdegrades to such a degree that some users wipe their machines clean onlyto end up back at the same place in a few months.

SUMMARY

Techniques are described for facilitating an application to moreeffectively manage its corresponding application data. In particular,techniques are described for identifying and stashing portions ofapplication data to a network accessible storage (NAS) location ordevice. Identifying and stashing are accomplished in a transparentfashion such that a user is not burdened by the process of managing andcreating a full or partial backup of application data. The system, theapplication, or a combination of system components and the applicationpersist and manage data locally and stash portions of the local data toone or more NAS devices or locations. One or more data links areprovided in place of the stashed portions of data. The application isable to use the data links in a same or similar way as handling localdata while providing little to no loss of functionality due to portionsof the local data being remotely stashed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The detailed description is set forth with reference to the accompanyingfigures, in which the left-most digit of a reference number identifiesthe figure in which the reference number first appears. The use of thesame reference numbers in different figures indicates similar oridentical items or features.

FIG. 1 shows an overview of an exemplary system wherein backup systemaware applications operate and stash data across a network onto one ormore network accessible storage devices.

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary method of stashing local data managed by abackup system aware application onto one or more network accessiblestorage devices or locations.

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary method by which to stash data through the useof a backup system aware (BSA) application programming interface (API).

FIG. 4 shows an exemplary computing device on which a backup systemaware application may operate.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

What has been needed is a software application or system that candetermine which data to store locally and which data to offload toanother accessible location. Hence, what is needed is intelligentmanagement and persistence of data at the level of the applicationinstead of the use of another specialized application or some separatespecialized task such as an archiving task or auto-archiving function.Auto-archiving, as used herein, merely moves data into another localfile on the same device and treats the auto-archived data separatelyfrom active data, such as by placing it in a separate folder with anarchive label. Further, data that is auto-archived is deleted from thepool of active application data. Auto-archiving, as used herein, isbased merely on just one characteristic of data—its date and/or time of,for example, creation, last change or last access.

This disclosure discusses applications and a system with the ability tomore intelligently manage persisted application data. For purposes ofillustration only, these features are discussed in the context ofexemplary applications operating on a computing device where thecomputing device is in electronic connection with one or more networkaccessible storage (NAS) locations or devices.

The exemplary applications, system and system components describedherein identify and stash portions of application data to a networkaccessible storage (NAS) location or device (which some may describe as“the cloud”).

Locally persisted data includes data persisted on a local device, suchas a portable device, personal computer or other device that isaccessible to a user and that is on a network. The user need not beaware of the on-going data identification and stashing. As such, theuser is not burdened by the process of managing and creating a full orpartial backup of application data. Links to the stashed data areprovided in place of the stashed portions of data. The exemplaryapplications, system and system components described herein are able touse the data links in a same or similar way as handling local data whileproviding little to no loss of functionality due to portions of thelocal data being remotely stashed. While data is discussed, stashing ofdata is merely exemplary of principles which also can be applied to avariety of entities including applications as well. That is, anapplication may be segmented in such a way that only the portion of theapplication that is used most is stored locally; the rest of theexecutable—e.g. portions representing features that are used lessfrequently—may be stashed remotely.

The exemplary applications, system components and system can handle adata load that escalates relatively slowly or rapidly. Accordingly,stashing of data may be performed at a frequency related to the rate ofescalating application data. Such an application maintains access tostashed data. Attributes or characteristics of application data areused, either by the applications or some other component of the system,to determine what application data is best to stash. Data elements arepassed to one or more NAS locations or devices and one or morecorresponding data links are passed back to the backup system awareapplication. The data items selected for transfer may be selected basedon one or more factors such as a cost of transferring a certain volumeof data across a network, a cost of a certain amount of data storagespace on the device operating the applications, and a frequency of howoften the data items are accessed. The benefits include increased volumeof freed space on the local device operating the applications.

System Overview

FIG. 1 shows an overview of an illustrative system 100 within whichthese techniques may be implemented. FIG. 1 shows a backup system aware(BSA) application 102 operating on an exemplary device 104(1). Varioustypes of devices that operate BSA applications may be used in the system100. Such devices include a personal digital assistant 104(2), apersonal computer 104(3), a mobile telephone 104(4), and a desktopcomputer 104(n).

Any particular BSA application 102 accesses local data 106 and datalinks 108 where the links refer to and uniquely identify data that hasbeen moved across a network 110 to one or more other locations ordevices such as NAS devices 112. The process of identifying and movingcertain data across one or more networks 110 is presented in more detailbelow.

A BSA application 102 can handle an ever increasing amount of or even arapidly escalating amount of local data 106. The BSA application 102 isaware of and has access to the various components of the system 100. TheBSA application 102 uses these components to intelligently pass some,most or all of the local data 106 to a storage device 112. Then, the BSAapplication 102 acquires one or more data links 108 and replaces localdata 106 with data links 108. The BSA application 102 uses the datalinks 108 in the same or similar way that it uses other local data 106.

In one implementation, the BSA application 102 passes attributes orcharacteristics of local data 106 within a local dataset to one or morecomponents of the system 100. A service (not shown) or some othercomponent of the system 100 determines what local data 106 or portionsof local data 106 to back up or stash in one or more of the storagedevices 112. Local data 106 which has been backed up or stashed away isreferred to herein as stashed data 116.

Methodology

FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of an exemplary process 200 by which a BSAapplication 102 acquires a data link 108 to stashed data 116. Withreference to FIG. 2, the BSA application identifies a dataset 202 whichcontains local data 106. The dataset may be the entire local dataassociated or used by the BSA application, or the dataset may be just apart of the data associated with or accessible by the BSA application.

Next, the BSA application, a system component, or combination ofcomponents and the BSA application identify data elements for stashing204. The identifying includes evaluating one or more characteristics ofeach data element of the dataset. One such characteristic would be thelength of time since a user last accessed a data element. Anothercharacteristic might be the frequency with which the data element isaccessed. A combination of characteristics may also be used. Forexample, in an exemplary implementation, a combination of staleness andsize of each data element is used to identify which data elements areappropriate candidates for stashing onto a NAS location or device. Sucha combination may be used to find a statistically significant indicatorthat a data element of a BSA application may not likely be accessedagain by a user. In such a situation, it does not make sense for the BSAapplication to have to actively keep a local copy of such data element,but could effectively stash such data element for some unlikely futureaccess. Such a distinction could be labeled as indentifying “cold” dataor identifying “hot” data that is used frequently and then having theBSA application stash the non-hot local data.

In one particular embodiment, if a system component across a networkperforms some or all of the identifying 204, the one or morecharacteristics of the data elements of the dataset is passed to thesystem component. The transfer of the one or more characteristics isperformed in a batch on an intermittent basis, such as at a frequency ofonce a day. Alternatively, the BSA application continuously processesdata elements and transfer characteristics of data elements as the BSAapplication used.

The identification also includes determining a granularity at which toidentify exactly what is to be considered a data element. Suchdetermination may be done once, many times, or may be configured atdesign time or by a user at runtime. For example, if the BSA applicationis an email application, an identifying function or step may determinean optimum granularity for data elements as at the level of a singleemail message, an email thread, or at the level of email message fieldsor message parts such as text body, attachments and headers. A dataelement may thus be a single email message, a complete email thread, ora definable portion of the message such as a text body, attachment, ormessage header. In this example, if the granularity is at the level ofan email message field, the BSA application may determine that it cankeep just one local copy of a particular attached file where severalmessages include the particular attached file. All copies of theparticular attached file beyond the first copy could be stashed andreplaced by a link. Other efficiencies in this example are possible. Ingeneral, a BSA application may determine the granularity of dataelements as smaller, the same, or larger than the granularity of atraditional file.

The process continues by stashing identified local data to one or moreNAS locations. Stashing includes determining an optimal way to transferthe identified data elements across a network. In one example, if datatransfer speed or volume is a limitation or source of increased cost inthe system, such optimizing includes calculating how to reduce theactual number of packets or bytes of data transferred to the NASlocations or devices. In this example, duplicate data elements may besent just one time. Transfer of identified data elements may be done ona data element by data element basis intermittently, or it may be donein a batch. In one implementation, the identifying of the dataset, theidentifying of the data elements within the dataset, and the transfer ofidentified data elements is done automatically, without user interactionor without notifying the user that such actions are taking place.

Once the stashing is complete, the process continues by having a networkcomponent confirm that transferred data was successfully stashed in atleast one NAS location or device 208. Confirmation may involve sending aconfirmation to the BSA application. In one implementation, sending aconfirmation is optional.

The process also includes having the BSA application obtain one or morelinks to each stashed data element 210 or to each batch of dataelements. In one implementation, the steps of receiving confirmation ofsuccessful stashing and obtaining a link to data elements may becombined such that when the BSA application receives one or more datalinks to each data element, or batch of elements, the BSA applicationtreats receipt of such links as confirmation that the data has beensuccessfully stashed.

Next, the BSA application replaces the local copy of data elements withone or more data links for each data element. In one implementation,only portions of information from within each link are used to replacethe local copy of data elements.

Each data link is comprised of various pieces of information. In oneimplementation, each data link includes an address that represents theremote location where the actual data resides along with metadata thatcharacterizes the stashed data element's content. The BSA applicationcan use this reduced representation of content when various functions ofthe BSA application are used against the stashed data elements.

For example, if the BSA application is an email application, if a userperforms a text search for a particular string and wishes to searchwithin the body of all messages, and assuming that some messages havebeen stashed in a NAS location, then the search would still be able toreturn a reasonably accurate set of search results even across stasheddata elements. Each data link to a data element would effectivelyinclude, within the data link or as separate data, information thatallows the BSA application to search and otherwise use the data link asif it were the original data. In this example, the text search wouldstill be effective as if the data elements, which were previouslystashed, were still local data. In an alternative embodiment, the BSAapplication would prompt or offer an option for a user to have thesearch extend across the network and trigger a search of both local dataand stashed data where the results would include a mechanism to accessboth local data and stashed data.

There are many benefits resulting from successfully stashing data of anyBSA application. First, the need for local storage is reduced for anyparticular BSA application. Further, operating BSA applications on aparticular device frees up local computer readable storage for otherapplications operating on the device. BSA applications are able tolaunch and operate faster, when compared against similarly functioningnon-BSA applications, by having a smaller set of data to manage.

Features of System

FIG. 1 shows features of a system 100 that provides support for stashingof local data. With reference to FIG. 1, the BSA application 102, acomponent of the system 118, or a combination of the BSA application 102and one or more components of the system 118, determine how best toidentify and stash data. In one implementation, a BSA application 102creates data storage space savings by stashing data seamlessly andwithout active participation by a user of the BSA application 102.

Stashing of local data, as used herein, includes but is not limited tomerely storing, offloading, transferring, copying, moving, or backing upof data. Stashing of local data is preferably done when storage on a NASdevice or location is more economical than storing data on a localdevice. Other factors may be taken into account such as, but not limitedto, local device performance and ability, local volume of data storage,and performance of a particular BSA application in view of the amount ofapplication data that the BSA application manages. One such factor isredundancy which can translate into availability of stashed data. Alocal device may have data stored on a single disk whereas the storageon a NAS device or location could provide RAID 1 or RAID 5 dataredundancy.

In a preferred implementation, the NAS device or location is a LOB storethat has been configured to optimize stashed data as raw characters orbytes of data associated with a particular BSA application in a clob orblob array, uninterpreted string of bytes, or other data structure suchas a container. The BSA application data is transferred and placed in asame or similar container or in an entirely different container or setof containers. Once the data from a particular BSA application istransferred, it may be optimized. Optimization in this context includesminimizing the amount of space actually used by a NAS device to storestashed data, and reducing to an optimum number of copies of dataelements of the stashed data for purposes of redundancy or optimalaccess by a particular BSA application. Optimization also includes theassociation of the stashed data with appropriate metadata. Otherfeatures of optimization in this context are possible.

The stashing of local data to one or more NAS locations or devices maybe managed or performed, in whole or in part, by an applicationprogramming interface or API. Such API could receive calls from a BSAapplication, trigger identification of data elements, assist in stashingand confirming of stashing of local data, and could return a data linkto the BSA application.

The process of stashing data may involve notifying a BSA applicationthat an identical copy of a data element that the BSA application ismanaging is already available on one of the NAS devices. In suchcircumstance, notification may take the form of a data link to theidentical item and the BSA application may be then replace the localcopy of the data element with the data link.

In an alternative implementation, the process of identifying a datasetand identifying data elements involves the use of a policy or policycomponent in the system. A policy module or component would manage oneor more policies for any particular BSA application for one or moreusers operating one or more devices. A policy may exist as part of thelocal data managed by the BSA application or may be stored on one of theNAS devices or across multiple NAS devices. A policy for a particularBSA application stores the criteria for identifying whichcharacteristics of the data elements to use for identifying which dataelements to stash. The policy could either be determined automaticallyby the BSA application or policy module, or could be originated,designated and/or adjusted by a user of the BSA application. The policywould depend on the particular BSA application in use. For example, apolicy would store the characteristic of how stale a data element wouldbe before the data element would be eligible for being a candidate forstashing. The use of a policy could be combined with heuristics tomanage and stash data. Examples of heuristics include the use of dataattributes such as frequency of access, time since last access, datasize, ways in which data are used, and re-use of duplicate data. Apolicy could determine which heuristics are used to stash data remotely.

In another implementation, a BSA application would constantly orintermittently perform maintenance of one or more search indexes oflocal data and data links. The BSA application would then be able toquickly and efficiently provide quality search results and otherdata-intensive functions even though some of the local data had beentransformed into data links. In contrast to indexing and indexes, thestashing of local data could be done on the same or less frequent basisas the maintenance of the indexing of BSA application data.

In an alternative implementation, the system for backup system awareapplications provides an alternative to a file system. Local data ismanaged on the basis of data elements. The definition of a file elementmay be the same or different than a traditional file depending on aparticular BSA application. A data element varies from one BSAapplication to another BSA application. If all applications on aparticular device were BSA applications, a user would not then need tomanage file backups or manage files because all local data would befully backed up at least once to one or more NAS locations or devices,and portions of the local data would be stashed and exchanged for one ormore data links. Such system would then obviate the need for a backupsystem and would simultaneously provide such benefits as, for example,increased application performance, increased device performance, andreduced need for data storage on the local device. Any BSA applicationcould also be programmed to provide historical copies of data elementsand versioning of data elements.

In yet another alternative implementation, each BSA application is alsoenabled to stash unused application functions. For example, in an emailmanagement application, if a user never uses a spell correction feature,this feature may be stashed onto a NAS device such as by stashing anyrelated dynamic link libraries or other elements of the BSA applicationthat can be separated from the BSA application. Such separation offunctions from the actively used version of the BSA application canprovide, for example, increased speed of execution and launching of theparticular BSA application.

Exemplary BSA Application—Photo Manager

One exemplary BSA application is a BSA photo application thatintelligently manages digital photographs and photo assets using thetechniques described above. Such a BSA photo application would confirmthat there is at least one remote copy of every digital photograph toserve as a backup for that photograph independent of how often thephotograph is accessed. The BSA photo application would keepsemantically meaningful versions of each digital photograph asdetermined by a policy. The policy could be modified by a user or couldbe pre-configured. The BSA photo application would save each digitalphotograph as an original plus a representation of the algorithmsnecessary to create all derived versions (e.g. a copy with red eyereduction, a copy with auto correction of color); such feature wouldboth promote efficient storage and enable better algorithms to beapplied as algorithms are developed.

BSA Application Programming Interface

In an exemplary implementation, stashing of data is accomplished througha BSA application programming interface (API). FIG. 3 shows a flowchartof an exemplary process 300 by which a BSA API facilitatesstashing—including the communication between a BSA application and astorage device or storage location.

With reference to FIG. 3, the BSA API receives identification of, oridentification data associated with, a data set that is accessible by aBSA application, the data set being subject to being stashed in astorage device or storage location 302. Next, the BSA API receives anidentifier for each of one or more data elements of the data set to bestashed 304. The BSA API passes an identifier for each of the one ormore data elements 306 to the BSA application, either singly or in abatch. In return, the BSA API receives a link to the stashed dataelements from the storage device or device location 308. The link may bea link to the data elements in bulk or to each individual data elementor to groups of data elements. The BSA API passes the link or links tothe BSA application 310. The to-be-stashed data elements are thenstashed in the storage device or storage location. The to-be-stasheddata is then replaced with the link or links to the stashed data 312.

Network Storage

The benefits of a system which includes multiple users operating a sameBSA application are not limited to a BSA application or the deviceoperating the particular BSA application. The NAS location or devicealso incurs benefits. For example, in one exemplary implementation, adata link for a particular data element may contain a globally uniqueidentifier. A NAS location may send a data link corresponding to theparticular data element to more than one user and to each correspondingBSA application. Thus, the system only has to store a single copy of thedata element or BSA application element that is common to each BSAapplication.

In another exemplary implementation, application data is stashed,written once, and not changed or overwritten again. The NAS location ordevice becomes a form of relatively permanent storage or archive of dataelements.

In yet another exemplary implementation, a NAS location or devicemaintains multiple versions of particular data elements, but only theincremental changes to an original data element are saved.

Illustrative Computing Device

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an illustrative computing device 400 thatmay be used to implement speculative execution of imperative code andspeculative data transfer of content as shown in the environment ofFIG. 1. It will readily be appreciated that the various embodiments oftechniques and mechanisms of stashing data may be implemented in othercomputing devices, systems, and environments. The computing device 400shown in FIG. 4 is only one example of a computing device and is notintended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of use orfunctionality of the computer and network architectures. The computingdevice 400 is not intended to be interpreted as having any dependency orrequirement relating to any one or combination of components illustratedin the example computing device.

In a very basic configuration, the computing device 400 typicallyincludes at least one processing unit or processor 402 and system memory404. Depending on the exact configuration and type of computing device,the system memory 404 may be volatile (such as RAM), non-volatile (suchas ROM, flash memory, etc.) or some combination of the two. The systemmemory 404 typically includes an operating system 406, one or moreprogram modules 408, and may include BSA application data 410 such aslocal data and data links as described herein. A program module 408 mayalternatively referred to as a component or application component of aBSA application. The operating system 406 includes a component-basedframework 412 that supports components (including properties andevents), objects, inheritance, polymorphism, reflection, and may providean object-oriented component-based application programming interface(API) for supporting the functionality and techniques described herein.The computing device 400 may be of a very basic configuration asdemarcated by a dashed line 414. Again, a terminal may have fewercomponents but interacts with a computing device that may have such abasic configuration.

The computing device 400 may have additional features or functionality.For example, the computing device 400 may also include additional datastorage devices (removable or non-removable, or some combination ofremovable and non-removable). Such additional storage is illustrated inFIG. 4 by removable storage 416 and non-removable storage 418. Computerstorage media may include volatile and nonvolatile, removable andnon-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storageof information, such as computer readable instructions, data structures,program modules, or other data. The system memory 404, the removablestorage 416, and the non-removable storage 418 are all examples ofcomputer storage media. The computing device 400 may also have inputdevice(s) 420 (e.g., keyboard, microphone) and output device(s) 422(e.g., display, speakers).

The computing device 400 may also contain communication connections 424that allow the device to communicate with other computing devices 426(e.g., storage device(s) 112), such as over a network 110. Thenetwork(s) 110 may include wired networks as well as wireless networks.The communication connections 424 are one example of communicationmedia. The communication media may typically be embodied by computerreadable instructions, data structures, program modules, etc.

The illustrated computing device 400 is only one example of a suitabledevice and is not intended to suggest any limitation as to the scope ofuse or functionality of the various embodiments described. Otherwell-known computing devices, systems, environments or configurationsthat may be suitable for use with the implementations described hereininclude, but are not limited to, personal computers, server computers,hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems,microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes, game consoles, programmableconsumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers,distributed computing environments that include any of the above systemsor devices, or the like, or any combination of such exemplary devices.For example, some or all of the components of the computing device 400may be implemented in a networked computing environment, such thatresources or services are made available via a computer network forselective use by client devices.

CONCLUSION

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or acts described. Rather,the specific features and acts are disclosed as exemplary forms ofimplementing the claims.

1. A method comprising: identifying data to be stashed based on one ormore criteria, wherein the to-be-stashed data forms part of a data setthat is locally persisted on a device and accessible by an application;stashing the to-be-stashed data in a network accessible storage that isremote from and accessible to the device; replacing the to-be-stasheddata with a link to the stashed data, wherein the link comprisesinformation that the application uses to treat the link as if thestashed data were available locally.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereinthe identifying, the stashing, and the replacing are performed by theapplication.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying isperformed by a component operating at a location remote from the deviceand accesses the data to be stashed across a portion of network.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, the method further comprising receiving the one ormore criteria for the identifying from a user.
 5. The method of claim 1further comprising, after the stashing and before the replacing of theto-be-stashed data, receiving a confirmation indicator that theto-be-stashed data has been successfully stashed in the networkaccessible storage.
 6. The method of claim 4, wherein the link to thestashed data is sent from the network accessible storage, and whereinthe link serves as the confirmation indicator.
 7. The method of claim 1,wherein the identifying comprises establishing a policy to persist adata set based on the one or more criteria, and wherein the one or morecriteria include a granularity for the identifying of the to-be-stasheddata.
 8. The method of claim 1 further comprising: after the replacing,retrieving the stashed data through the use of the link to the stasheddata.
 9. A method comprising: receiving identification of a data setthat is accessible by an application, wherein the data set is subject tobeing stashed in a network accessible storage; receiving an identifierfor each of one or more data elements of the data set to be stashed;passing the identifier for each of the one or more data elements to theapplication; receiving a link to the stashed data elements from thenetwork accessible storage; passing the link to the application;stashing the to-be-stashed data elements in the network accessiblestorage; replacing the to-be-stashed data with the link to the stasheddata.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the application stashes each ofthe one or more data elements.
 11. The method of claim 9, wherein thedata elements are files.
 12. A device comprising: a memory in electroniccommunication with a processor; an application operative in the memoryand in electronic communication with locally persisted data; and anapplication component operative in the memory and configured to causethe processor to perform acts comprising: identifying locally persisteddata to be stashed based on one or more criteria, wherein the locallypersisted data is accessible by the application and the applicationcomponent; stashing the to-be-stashed data in a network accessiblestorage location; receiving a link to each portion of the stashed data;and replacing portions of to-be-stashed locally persisted data with acorresponding link to the respective portion of stashed data, whereineach link comprises information that the application uses to treat thelink as if the stashed data were available locally to the applicationcomponent.
 13. The device of claim 12, wherein each link contains anidentifier unique across networks in which the device participates. 14.The device of claim 12, wherein the identifying is performed by acomponent operating at a remote location and accesses the data to bestashed on the device across a portion of a network.
 15. The device ofclaim 14, wherein identifying comprises establishing a policy to persista set of the one or more criteria, and wherein the one or more criteriainclude a granularity for the identifying of the to-be-stashed data. 16.The device of claim 12, wherein a user specifies the one or morecriteria for the identifying prior to any identifying and stashing oflocally persisted data.
 17. The device of claim 12, the acts furthercomprising, after the stashing and before the receiving of any link,receiving, by the application component, a confirmation indicator thatthe to-be-stashed data has been successfully stashed in the networkaccessible storage location.
 18. The device of claim 12, wherein theapplication component is further configured to retrieve the stashed datathrough the use of the link to the stashed data after replacing portionsof to-be-stashed locally persisted data.
 19. The device of claim 12,wherein the application component is further configured to stash data ata frequency related to a rate application data increasing over time. 20.The device of claim 19, wherein the application component is furtherconfigured to stash data in a number of different network accessiblelocations, the number of locations increasing depending on the rate ofdata increase over time.